The present invention generally relates to the field of computer data storage and retrieval, and more specifically, to performing searches for objects within a social networking system.
Modern computing systems store vast amounts of data, and as a consequence it has become increasingly important to provide users with effective ways to locate information that is relevant to their interests. One area in which a large amount of information is involved is social networking. Social networking systems allow users to designate other users as friends (or otherwise connect to or form relationships with other users), contribute and interact with media items, use applications, join groups, list and confirm attendance at events, create pages, and perform other tasks that facilitate social interaction. Since each of these tasks may involve various data objects, social networking systems are good examples of the demand for systems that help users locate relevant information from within a large set of information tracked or otherwise used by the system.
Searches for information on a social networking system sometimes take place within a particular context. For example, users might specify some searches from within a data search area located on a page about restaurants. Although it might be helpful to customize a search to result in, or emphasize, objects particularly relevant to the context (e.g., restaurants), the search functionality currently available on social networking systems typically does not include a way to determine what the search context is, nor to take that search context into account when performing a search. This makes locating information of particular relevance to a given search more challenging.